East Germany’s experiment in creating an ideal town from the ground up Sources Openstreetmap; www.eisenhuettenstadt.de /Stadt-Verwaltung; Petra Pudemat Feb 17, 2025 | Law, Politics, Society Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and is published by an independent non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers We cannot do what we do without your support The German authorities are preparing to open a new “departure centre” on the border with Poland that will speed up the deportation of asylum seekers who have submitted claims for international protection in other EU member states but then relocated to Germany the EU member state in which an asylum seeker submits their claim for international protection is responsible for processing the case If the person in question moves in the meantime to another member state they can be sent back to the country of arrival German newspaper Bild reported that the federal government in Berlin and the authorities in the state of Brandenburg will today sign an agreement on establishing a new so-called “Dublin centre” in the town of Eisenhüttenstadt “The centre will have space for 150 to 250 people in two buildings,” Katrin Lange “Then we will have all Dublin refugees in one central location Because of the proximity to the Polish border they can be quickly returned there.” The newspaper also quoted an anonymous judge who said that whereas Italy last year only took back four of thousands of asylum seekers from Germany Poland takes back all “Dublin” refugees most of them then quickly make their way back to Germany to end this “revolving door effect” Germany’s federal interior minister Nancy Faeser wants “Dublin” refugees not to receive the normal benefits granted to those who have claimed asylum in Germany and instead receive only basic provisions the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) criticised the government for its alleged willingness to take back asylum seekers from Germany Former PiS deputy foreign minister Paweł Jabłoński noted that whereas Italy is refusing to take back most Dublin deportees Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government is happy to do so Data from Poland’s border guard show that in the first nine months of 2024 – when the current government was in power – 570 people were returned from Germany to Poland under Dublin procedures In 2023 – when PiS was in power – 900 such transfers took place across the whole year, reports news website Interia. (Separately, Germany has been turning back thousands of migrants at the Polish border itself after reintroducing controls in 2023.) „Włochy przyjęły od nas tylko 4 migrantów” – skarżą się Niemcy (bo chcieli im odesłać kilka tysiecy) I chwalą rząd Tuska: „Polska jest zupełnie inna – przyjmują KAŻDEGO”❗️ I właśnie przy granicy budują nowe centrum… pic.twitter.com/G8S2ZKxtXZ — 🇵🇱 Paweł Jabłoński (@paweljablonski_) February 16, 2025 PiS has also accused the government of acquiescing to the EU’s new migration and asylum pact, which includes measures to relocate asylum seekers within Europe. However, Prime Minister Donald Tusk has insisted that his government would not accept any such relocations EU figures and experts have also noted that the pact allows member states to make “solidarity” payments instead of receiving asylum seekers. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on a visit to Poland this month that Brussels would take into account Poland’s generous support for Ukrainian refugees The Tusk government has also approved a tough new migration strategy that includes plans to deny the right to asylum for people who irregularly cross the border from Belarus Poland "will not implement" the EU migration pact if it involves the "forced acceptance of migrants", says @donaldtusk That would "waste the efforts of our border officers who are risking their lives" to make “Poland one of the safest places in Europe" https://t.co/ZUTLcmRkHA — Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) February 4, 2025 Main image credit: Combat Camera Poland/Flickr (under CC BY-NC 2.0) Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications , , Karol Nawrocki even suggested that the state security services were involved in creating the scandal , , The 1,200 square metre national symbol was unfurled on the beach in Międzyzdroje , , The proportion of Poles saying the US has a positive influence on the world has also fallen to its lowest recorded level Apr 30, 2025 | , , , That response will include “large Polish and NATO exercises in Poland” Apr 29, 2025 | , , , Those employed in Poland work on average the third-longest hours in the European Union Apr 28, 2025 | , , , , Westinghouse and Bechtel were first chosen in 2022 as partners on the 192 billion zloty ($51 billion) project please consider helping us to continue and expand it [email protected] Copyright © 2025 Notes From Poland | Design jurko studio | Code by 2sides.pl Senior Research Fellow at the Global Europe Centre ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Weronika Strzyżyńska is currently studying journalism at Goldsmiths as a Scott Trust Bursary recipient She  has written on issues immigration and Brexit for New Statesman and Prospect Agnieszka Wądołowska is managing editor of Notes from Poland She has previously worked for Gazeta.pl and Tokfm.pl and contributed to Gazeta Wyborcza ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland and assistant professor of history at the Pedagogical University of Krakow The Independent and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Stanley Bill is the founder and editor-at-large of Notes from Poland.He is also Senior Lecturer in Polish Studies and Director of the Polish Studies Programme at the University of Cambridge Stanley has spent more than ten years living in Poland He founded Notes from Poland in 2014 as a blog dedicated to personal impressions cultural analysis and political commentary He is committed to the promotion of deeper knowledge and understanding of Poland He is the Chair of the Board of the Notes from Poland Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor of European Studies at Oxford University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Professor at the Institute of History of the Jagiellonian University ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Executive Director of Taube Family Foundation ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies of the Polish Academy of Science ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR ARTICLES BY THIS AUTHOR You don't have permission to access the page you requested What is this page?The website you are visiting is protected.For security reasons this page cannot be displayed The GDR planned Eisenhüttenstadt as a model town in the 1950s Now that its population and steelworks have shrunk significantly will it become a living monument to a failed utopia Eisenhüttenstadt.’ The train rolled slowly through the huge industrial zone that inspired its name you could see chimneys and factory buildings glide by rusty pipes wound around battered blast furnaces and silos before disappearing into its metal core down from 12,000 in the heyday of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) the integrated steelworks is the beating heart of Eisenhüttenstadt the town is one of Germany’s newest and most fascinating The GDR leadership built it from scratch to house the plant’s workers and their families This allowed the developers to design buildings and also to incorporate works of art into the urban landscape stained glass windows and murals – many idealising the GDR and socialism – form part of a unique architectural ensemble well worth preserving Thirty-five years after the fall of the Berlin Wall art historians and cultural tourists are rediscovering its legacy Despite the East German regime’s totalitarianism and the town’s current social problems some of the original ideas behind Eisenhüttenstadt could have new relevance now dictate so many real estate projects and urban planning (where it exists) For today’s visitor – accustomed to seeing soaring rents drive poorer people out of city centres and eat into middle-class incomes almost everywhere – the idea of building an entire town with high-quality architecture and living spaces primarily for working-class people is a welcome change Being a tourist in Eisenhüttenstadt is a bit like stepping into a giant open-air exhibition dedicated to socialism (1) Notes originally prepared for a conference in Mexico at the turn of the century Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker As a neo-Nazi rally meets a counter-protest outside an Eisenhüttenstadt refugee hostel Luke Harding finds contrasting opinions in this former East German town Abdul Rahman was heading back to the asylum seekers’ hostel he now calls home arrived in the small eastern German town on Monday Rahman said he and two friends had fled Damascus to avoid being drafted into the Syrian army “I didn’t want to kill civilians,” he explained In the field immediately outside his hostel on Karl Marx Street two rival demonstrations were taking place About 60 neo-Nazis were staging an anti-refugee protest About 90 locals had turned up to support them The demonstrators – some with shaven heads – unfurled two German flags and a banner which said: “We’ll fight for you until you wake up!” A small line of police watched the protest. Manuela Kokott, a politician with the far-right National Democratic party, spoke into a loudhailer. The refugees arriving in Germany were bringing chaos Each cost the German taxpayer €9,500 (£6,950) a year money better spent on German pensioners and kindergartens Rightwing rally and counter-protest in Eisenhüttenstadt Photograph: Danny Frank/Demotix/CorbisNearby 200 people waving “We love refugees” placards were holding a noisy counter-demonstration A small group surged forward towards the neo-Nazis They shouted “Nazis out” and began a football-style chant of “You’re so ri-di-culous The neo-Nazis sang back: “Whoever doesn’t love Germany should leave.” who were sitting under pine trees and watched the spectacle with bemusement What did Rahman make of the accusation he was a burden on Germany “Give us work and we’ll pay Germany back,” he said Rahman said he had been studying law at Damascus University Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, has been acclaimed for her generous response to Europe’s worst refugee crisis for 70 years She and her Social Democratic coalition partners are optimistic the country can cope Berlin expects to receive at least 800,000 asylum applications in 2015 About 120,000 refugees arrived in Munich in August With Bavaria unable to accommodate all of them, refugees are now being sent on to cities and towns like Eisenhüttenstadt, in each corner of the country. It is a massive operation. From many Germans, there has been overwhelming goodwill towards this unprecedented situation. They have donated money, clothes and food. Read moreBut the mood has not been universally welcoming Some commentators doubt Germany’s capacity to accommodate so many new people – and wonder what long-term impact they might have on the country’s infrastructure and finances not to mention its European cultural identity On Wednesday, the conservative Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung asked if the “heterogenous crowds” from diverse backgrounds could really be transformed into “constitutionally loyal” citizens and taxpayers blamed “internet culture” for spreading anti-foreigner hostility among “modernisation’s losers” The attitude towards refugees in Eisenhüttenstadt is distinctly mixed It was meant as a showcase of idealistic socialist urban planning now Linden Avenue – still has a distinctly GDR feel with monumental tower blocs overlooking a wide cobbled boulevard The population has halved from 53,000 to 27,000 Many have left for the more prosperous west Eisenhüttenstadt’s steel factory is still in business its giant towers visible from the GDR theme-park-like centre But its workforce has shrivelled from 10,000 to 3,500 Those who grew up in the post-war era call themselves “Stalin City-ers” Many are sceptical about their new neighbours who find themselves living in a rustic province next to the Polish border 56 – who declined to give his second name – said standing on the edge of the anti-refugee gathering “Merkel is neglecting her own people. She is obsessed by refugees,” he said. He added that he did not have sympathy with young Syrians fleeing conscription: “I did my military service in the GDR, guarding the green [non-Berlin] border with West Germany. We stopped criminals from escaping to the other side.” He added: “I never deserted.” Bernd’s friend Klaus – a former professional footballer who played in East Germany’s national league in the 1970s – said: “Look at them They are running like giraffes.” But didn’t the GDR once welcome visitors from other fraternal communist countries But they worked hard and went home afterwards,” Klaus said an 18-year-old volunteer helping out in the refugee hostel admitted there were those in the town who had misgivings They read all sorts of nonsense on Facebook that the refugees get preferential treatment.” But she said young educated people were keen to help They belonged to a swelling army of unpaid volunteers known as Ehrenamtliche Kempe and her three female student friends were taking bags of clothes and toys into the hostel Kempe said some blocks had no electricity and that the toilets had broken last week said that conditions were good and they had few complaints said he had left for Germany after government troops besieged his village near Damascus He escaped at night by bribing a policeman and then paid $2,500 (£1,620) to smugglers in Athens who drove him all the way to Munich A helper puts a jacket on a refugee boy in Munich Many Germans have welcomed refugees with open arms Photograph: Christof Stache/AFP/Getty ImagesMost people in Eisenhüttenstadt had been friendly and another had pressed himself against a wall as he passed “as if we were germs” The German government was giving him basic support – €47.10 every 10 days – he said About 500 men are living in a second camp run by the German Red Cross. Most are in tents, in sleeping bags. Staff said there were plans to construct a more permanent building before winter arrives. The refugees were keen to help: two carpenters had made a portico for the Red Cross office; others were refurbishing bikes in a workshop. All attended free German courses. Read moreThe camp is on the edge of a municipal forest sometimes asking each other for directions in Arabic In a grassy clearing an Albanian dad was playing football with his son a well-to-do Syrian couple said they were leaving for another shelter in Brandenburg one of 16 German federal states now dealing with a major housing emergency battling with police over two successive nights unidentified attackers threw a burning torch at an asylum seekers’ hostel in Berlin’s Marzahn district There have been recent incidents in Salzhemmendorf in Lower Saxony Back at the demonstration, the neo-Nazis and anti-fascists were preparing to walk and cycle home – but not before swapping a few last insults. The anti-refugee rally featured far-right rock and an adapted version of the hit single Timber by American rapper Pitbull Its new German lyrics began: “Unsere Heimat “Wir sind das Volk!” – we are the people – the neo-Nazis shouted Steel and mining major ArcelorMittal will transform the plants in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt in accordance with the planned expansion of Germany’s hydrogen infrastructure The company is planning to build a large-scale industrial plant for the direct reduction of iron ore (DRI) and electric arc furnace (EAF)-based steelmaking at its site in Bremen and a DRI pilot plant in addition to an electric arc furnace (EAF) in Eisenhüttenstadt The technology conversion requires investments in the range of €1 to 1.5 billion and would result in production costs that are around 60 per cent higher ArcelorMittal is planning to gradually adapt production in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt in order to be able to manufacture carbon-neutral steel using hydrogen in the iron ore reduction process Up to 3.5 million tonnes of steel could be produced by the Bremen and Eisenhuttenstadt sites by 2030 using green hydrogen CO2 savings of more than 5 million tonnes could be possible CEO of ArcelorMittal Flachstahl Deutschland said: “With our concept for the transformation of the plants in Bremen and Eisenhüttenstadt we are accelerating the implementation of carbon-neutral steel production These projects have the potential to have a significant impact in reducing CO2 emissions in line with the European Union’s climate commitments We are now asking for the necessary support and access to funding to make the implementation of our plans happen.” ArcelorMittal already operates Europe’s only DRI-EAF plant in Hamburg where the switch to using hydrogen instead of natural gas in the iron ore reduction process is being prepared ArcelorMittal set the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 in Europe and producing carbon-neutral steel by 2050 Daily news and in-depth stories in your inbox The Pioneers of Offshore Engineering GustoMSC part of NOV’s Marine and Construction business is recognized for providing advanced design & engineering consultancy for mobile offshore units and reliable equipment and technical knowledge into realistic & innovative ideas The performance of new and existing jack-ups tons of dead fish have been floating in the Oder River This is an environmental disaster of enormous proportions the cause of which has not yet been clarified and the full extent of which cannot yet be foreseen The first reports began to arrive on July 26. Senator Wadim Tyszkiewicz, formerly the mayor of Nowa Sól, which lies on the Polish banks of the Oder, wrote on his Facebook page: “A catastrophe The fish that didn’t die are swimming in agony snatching oxygen from the surface of the water The water in the river is murky and the foam smells of chlorine and septic tank the Oder is the eighth longest river in Central Europe flows through Sląskie (Silesia) and becomes the border river between Poland and Germany at Schiedlo before flowing into the Baltic Sea at Stettin the first dead fish also appeared on the German banks in the Oder-Spree district The city of Frankfurt an der Oder issued a warning that a massive fish die-off had been observed for “unexplained reasons.” On Thursday it is expected to enter the Lower Odertal German-Polish nature reserve and from there flow further towards the Baltic Sea via the Stettiner Haff In Poland, the anglers’ association has organised volunteers to remove the fish carcasses. According to their own statements, they had recovered more than 10 tonnes of dead fish from the Oder within a few days. This Facebook page from one of the volunteers shows the tragic scale of the disaster Several tonnes of fish carcasses were also recovered in the German section of the Oder After reports of mercury contamination of the Oder were received some volunteers stopped the disposal operation for their own protection continued wearing personal protective gear as mass decomposition in the river is an ecological hazard in itself especially if the carcasses contain toxic chemicals What remains unknown so far is the impact on the entire river biotope—on plant life on the micro-organisms in the river and its countless tributaries as well as on birds and other animals that feed on fish There are reports from Poland of dead seabirds and beavers “It seems that everything that breathes air from the water has died,” Johannes Giebermann of the Frankfurt/Oder Landscape Management Office told Der Spiegel We can’t even estimate the dimension of it right now.” tons of dead fish are floating in the Oder—and that at an extremely low water level and in great heat,” Spiegel reports “One thing is clear: the carcasses have to be removed from the water it is still unclear what the exact reason for the mass deaths is.” Without knowing the reason for the die-off “Only if we know this can we act properly now,” emphasized Giebermann who used to work for the German Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (Nabu) The public prosecutor’s office in Wrocław and the Brandenburg State Criminal Investigation Office (LKA) have started investigations into a possible environmental crime German authorities detected an elevated concentration of mercury in water samples on Thursday Polish authorities an elevated concentration of the solvent mesitylene (or 1,3,5,-trimethylbenzene) a week earlier there is still no clear finding as to what caused the disaster According to Germany’s Federal Environment Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) the fish deaths may be due to chemical poisoning “It does seem that it is chemical substances from industrial production,” she said after a meeting with her Polish counterpart Anna Moskwa in Szczecin The Polish government currently claims the disaster was not caused by heavy metals This was the result of the latest analysis of dead fish by the state veterinary institute Moskwa wrote on Twitter on Saturday evening pointed to elevated salt levels in the water and thus agreed with the findings of the German authorities Warsaw also expressed the suspicion that the Oder had been poisoned with chemical waste and the Polish police offered a reward of the equivalent of 210,000 euros for anyone providing evidence When the reports of countless dead fish piled up the Voivodeship Inspectorate for Environmental Protection in Wrocław ordered water samples on July 28 These invalidated the initial suspicion of deoxidation of the river water Such a lack of oxygen in the water occurs frequently as warm water binds oxygen more poorly than cold water The detailed laboratory results confirmed this suspicion located about 30 kilometres before Wrocław mesitylene (1,3,5,-trimethylbenzene) was detected with eighty percent probability of cyclic and aromatic hydrocarbons (such as mesitylene) could be found inhalation or ingestion may cause drowsiness the vapours have a narcotic effect in higher concentrations an official warning was issued to avoid contact with the water and not to consume any fish from the region Based on the locations of the water samples the Environmental Protection Inspectorate concluded that the pollution must have originated upstream in the area of the Opole Voivodeship the Environmental Protection Inspectorate of the Opole Voivodeship admitted that on July 14 “an incident occurred in the Gliwice canal Investigations revealed a very high water temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and an excessive concentration of chlorides.” Attempting to downplay the situation the authorities assured: “These were not large quantities of fish and research has shown that such a quantity of chlorides cannot be the direct cause of the deaths.” connects the Oder River with the port of the industrial city of Gliwice the mouth of the canal is about 100km from the downstream Lipki lock and there are no reports of mass dead fish between these two points Another case of pollution was reported by Gazetta Wyborcza from Oława itself the city where the first mesitylene pollution was detected a new one owned by Jack-Pol and a half-defunct one owned by PPHU Karaś both of which are located on a sluice canal and according to the citizens’ initiative “Everything for Oława,” discharge their wastewater into the Oder River The citizens’ initiative has detailed proof of the fraud committed by the two companies and has been trying in vain for years to get the authorities to act The citizens’ initiative wrote: “For several years state institutions had been unable to locate the culprit releasing the poison and to examine its chemical composition This shows the helplessness of the system we live in today They also clearly stated the reasons: “It’s about money so the easiest thing to do is to dump it directly into the river Over a dozen years or so it could be hundreds or even thousands of tonnes ...!” writing: “The most harmful stage [of papermaking] is bleaching the pulp using chlorine gas or chlorine compounds which releases dangerous organic halogen impurities into paper mill wastewater When organic chlorine compounds are exposed to high temperatures they often turn into persistent and highly toxic compounds called dioxins.” countless people have reported that the Oder stinks of chlorine Jack-Pol management dismissed such accusations as “nonsense” and “slander” and called for a little more respect for “a company that has been in this market for 25 years employs 130 people and pays property taxes to the city.” between the effects of the drought and the restraints put on the watercourse by countless locks that make the Oder navigable This could explain why the mass mortality only started now It is also still unclear what caused a 30-centimetre-high toxic wave The last sluice is located at the hydroelectric power plant in Waly Was it opened to wash away the pollution more quickly is currently suffering from extremely low water levels the water level is currently 1.61 metres—60 centimetres below the average for August Numerous sandbanks are impeding navigation and reducing the flow to 53 percent of the long-term comparative value president of the Polish Water Authority (PGW WP) believes the current disaster is certainly influenced by the drought and low water flows from a septic tank or pollution in small quantities which until now was not a problem and was diluted in the river but now has caused an ecological disaster,” Daca told the Wyborzca newspaper Polish water sampling stations have reported no mesitylene pollution but still record excessive oxygen saturation the Polish authorities plan to announce the results of autopsies carried out on fish Some of those affected by the die-off have react angrily: “You had two weeks to find the culprit You had two weeks to warn people!” residents in Zielona Góra shouted at Deputy Environment Minister Jacek Ozdoba during a press conference Poland is often criticised for not reporting incidents on the upper Oder But the German authorities have also “failed to deal with the problems that have arisen within a reasonable period of time,” as the mayor of Frankfurt Oder Members of the opposition Civic Platform (PO) criticise the failures of the PiS-led central government which in turn points to the responsibility of the PO-led local governments It is clear that a cover-up like the one in Oława is only possible in the long term if state authorities at all levels support or at least tolerate it The tragedy highlights the deep-seated nationalism of all the establishment parties and its practical effects Eighteen years after Poland’s accession to the European Union there is obviously neither functioning cross-border environmental protection nor an efficient exchange of information between municipalities along the border Green politicians from the state of Brandenburg point the finger at Poland speaking of a “failure to provide information” and call on the federal government in Berlin to intervene Green politicians from Poland point the finger at the PiS in Warsaw this natural disaster reveals the bankruptcy of the whole capitalist system the greed for profits of a company that discharges toxic substances into the river and can rely on the subservience of the local authorities because it promises tax revenues and jobs—or greases politicians’ palms the state authorities demonstrate the same criminal indifference that has been seen in the coronavirus pandemic and the climate change catastrophe neither the German nor the Polish government has initiated central measures against the environmental disaster on the Oder neither to dispose of the presumably toxic carcasses in a coordinated manner nor to stop the further contamination of the river There is not even a joint effort to coordinate the fight against the natural disaster and its consequences Looking to access paid articles across multiple policy topics Interested in policy insights for EU professional organisations It also proposed a “decarbonisation bank” for energy intensive industry and a regular communications on Europe’s CO2 price trajectory either observed and verified directly by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Eisenhüttenstadt: A blast furnace (l) on the premises of ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt GmbH (aerial view with a drone) [Photo by Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images] Donec et orci aliquet nisl suscipit molestie sed sit amet tortor. Duis vel urna ac mi sollicitudin lacinia mollis sit amet lorem. Sed finibus erat nec libero scelerisque fringilla. Morbi at orci sed urna vulputate vulputate. Nulla facilisi. Donec et orci aliquet nisl suscipit molestie sed sit amet tortor. Get a subscription on Euractiv Pro and elevate your political insight! As Germans prepare to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall — a burst of freedom that led to the collapse of communism in Europe — the country remains divided in its memories of the old days. EISENHUETTENSTADT, Germany — In the fading factory town of Eisenhuettenstadt, built more than a half-century ago to honor Josef Stalin, the former East German dictatorship still generates fond memories. Many residents of the former East Germany resent what they say is an unfair characterization of their country as a “criminal state” by their counterparts in the West. Instead, they say, the German Democratic Republic (GDR) was a well-intentioned, if flawed, experiment in socialism that denounced the evils of the Nazis. In a survey commissioned by the federal government to assess how Germans feel today about the events of 1989, 57 percent of those in the eastern half of the country said life under communist rule was, on balance, more positive than negative. “What people really are saying is, ‘I didn’t do everything wrong, I didn’t live in vain,’ ” said Gabriele Haubold, a city planner in Eisenhuettenstadt, which was founded as a model socialist city but has suffered since 1989, losing more than one-third of its population. “People think back to how it was in the GDR, how it was different, how we had work, how there was a safety net so you didn’t have to worry about things,” she said. “But, of course, you also have to remember that there was a price to pay for all this.” People who held senior jobs in the old East German government or who worked for the Stasi, its notorious secret police, were prosecuted or shunned after Germany’s unification in 1990. As time passed, such affiliations lost some of their stigma. In Berlin, scores of international dignitaries and thousands of others will gather Monday to commemorate the demise of the Wall. The highlight will come when an order is given to topple a row of eight-foot-tall foam dominoes stretching for a mile along the old dividing line in the heart of the city. In contrast, nothing special is planned Monday in Eisenhuettenstadt, a town of 32,000 near Poland. Eisenhuettenstadt was built, starting in 1950, to house thousands of workers for giant steel mills. It was called Stalinstadt until 1961, when the name was changed to reflect the Soviet leader’s posthumous fall from grace. Today, the city looks like a mothballed version of a forgotten era. Unemployment has hit 20 percent in recent years, and prospects for growth are few. Andreas Ludwig, an urban historian, is one of the few western Germans who have moved here. In 1993, he opened the Documentation Center for Everyday Culture of the German Democratic Republic. For years, Ludwig urged many locals to donate school textbooks, consumer goods, propaganda posters, anything that could help explain the era to future generations. The museum has collected 150,000 items. Many Germans in the West accuse Easterners of romanticizing communist life and forgetting the oppression, lack of freedom and economic deprivation. But Ludwig said the nostalgia is more a way to draw attention to shortcomings in unified Germany. “When people say things were better in the GDR, the politicians get angry. They say, ‘It can’t be, it was a dictatorship,’ ” Ludwig said. “They don’t realize that it’s just a critique of their job.” Eastern Germans are happier with the end of communism than their neighbors behind the old Iron Curtain, according to a poll released Monday by the Pew Research Center. About 85 percent of eastern Germans approve of the change to market capitalism, while 82 percent favor the transition to multiparty democracy. Shannon Smiley contributed to this report. Stay secure and make sure you have the best reading experience possible by upgrading your browser! IndustrialArcelorMittal set for €1.3bn grant for green-hydrogen steel project — days after firm said H2 is too expensive to useLuxembourg company already stands accused of greenwash for courting subsidies for new equipment it may never decarbonise DB Cargo has signed a ten-year contract with ArcelorMittal the world's largest steel company and Europe's largest steel producer to supply its blast furnace in Eisenhüttenstadt DB Cargo will ensure that raw materials are delivered to one of Germany's largest sites in the steel industry DB Cargo is investing in world-class logistics for its customer it will purchase 352 multi-functional double wagons and 1,408 special containers to transport ore designed the wagons and optimised their load volume specifically for these raw materials Innofreight will also build two semi-automated loading and unloading facilities at the Eisenhüttenstadt plant by summer 2021 and will operate them itself The new transports will begin as soon as the facilities are completed DB Cargo will then be able to transport up to 4.2 million tonnes of raw materials a year we have been supplying ArcelorMittal with raw materials and transporting finished steel to customers in particular in the automotive industry and plant engineering Management Board Member responsible for Sales at DB Cargo "Now we're investing a considerable sum in this long-standing partnership Our new wagons for ArcelorMittal will have an especially durable underframe while the removable superstructure is designed to be flexible so that it can be replaced more frequently we will also be able to customise the superstructure as requirements change," Timmermans added "ArcelorMittal Eisenhüttenstadt is implementing one of the most state-of-the-art raw materials logistics systems in Europe," says Sybille Klipstein "We will be able to increase the net load of each train by some 20% by using special types of containers that are optimised for the different properties of ore which will protect the environment and reduce shunting at the depot automated loading and unloading of trains means less dust and less noise at the workplace environmental protection and occupational safety with this new system." Siemens is to supply a battery storage system to Vulkan Energiewirtschaft Oderbrücke GmbH to provide black start capabilities for a gas turbine at a power plant in Eisenhüttenstadt Siemens Low and Medium Voltage Division is supplying a Siestorage lithium-ion battery system that has been designed for Vulkan to provide 2.8 MVA and a capacity of 720 kWh The Eisenhüttenstadt blast furnace gas-fired power plant supplies a steel mill with re-start capabilities for the gas turbine after a power outage The motor draws current from the battery storage system to ensure reliable current The gas turbine starting motor is 400kW so the 720kWh ESS can accommodate the black starting the plant provides back-up heat and electricity to the steel mill This will be the second Siemens Siestorage in operation the first being a 500kWh system in Italy that provides frequency and voltage stability to photovoltaic plants.  All the latest on Batteries & Energy Storage Technology the world’s largest battery manufacturer has been added to a long list of enterprises which the US Department of Defense is scrutinising to clarify whether they have any connections to the.. Find a wealth of information on the energy storage and battery industries with BEST Magazine From all the latest news to in-depth technical articles we have everything you need in print and online All the latest news and articles on Batteries & Energy Storage Technology Copyright 2025 © Energy Storage Publishing Ltd set a 24-hour world speed record of 1,704 m/min on April 24 the 10.85 m-wide PM2 produced corrugating medium at basis weight of 70g/m2 with a total efficiency of 96 % The Propapier PM2 was originally started up in March 2010